The Data Protection Commissioner’s role is to be strengthened to make sure the State and the private sector do not abuse personal data, Consumer Affairs Minister Helena Dalli said yesterday.

She expressed hope that the political approach to privacy – an important issue for all citizens – would be non-partisan and consensual.

Ms Dalli was speaking at a press breakfast attended by the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx, the keynote speaker at an international conference about online privacy organised by the Consent consortium.

This is one of the largest research projects investigating internet privacy, including social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

This €3 million EU-funded, three-year project is coordinated by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, while the University of Malta is a leading consortium member.

Jeanne Pia Mifsud Bonnici, from the University of Groningen, explained the project, which includes 19 universities from 13 countries, looked at some 107 social networks to investigate what happens to information when people register online. The research will provide the EU with advice about online privacy, especially on user-generated context.

The outcome of the international conference held in Malta will be included in the final version of a policy brief to be presented to the European Commission and Parliament in April.

Launching yesterday’s presentations, Mr Hustinx noted almost everyone is online and investment should be made in an environment where one can feel confident and safe.

It is not a time to re-invent data protection, but a time to make it better, and the challenge remains that data protection differs from country to country, he said.